Installing a cloud non-destructively

dainbramage

dainbramage

New member
I'm renting this place and probably won't stay here for years, so I need to install a 242 panel I've got from GIK in the ceiling without using screws. Any ideas? I've tried double layered tape, but it doesn't stick well to the panels.
 
I am afraid that you will to fix it to the beams that hold the ceiling up. Screw through the ceiling with some thin screw into the beam, and when you talk it down later there will just be a small repair to do to the holes.

I would be worried about working under a cloud that was held up with double sided tape.
Alan.
 
dainbramage said:
All right, thanks witzen. Guess I'll go get the halo and give the landlord a gentle knock at the door.
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If you are careful, you can drill a few holes and when you are done, use some hole filler to fix it when you leave. Just make sure you keep the holes around a screw size and patching it will not be a problem. Lapndlord probably will paint after you leave anyway. So, it would be minimum repair required.
 
dainbramage said:
All right, thanks witzen. Guess I'll go get the halo and give the landlord a gentle knock at the door.
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Actually DS tape is FAR more likely to damage paint. paper or even plaster than a few, carefully drilled holes.

It would also be very unreasonable IMO for a landlord to refuse permission to mount limited materials to walls and ceilings provided of course that it is agreed that any holes etc are made good when you go.

Then, there is a way to make a very strong fixing with minimal screws.
Use a sheet of 15mm MDF (painted if you wish) and stick 10mm x1mm rubber sealing strip around the inside edge. This can then be attached via screws and plugs or into joists. As the sealing strip excludes air the whole panel becomes held by air pressure. NB. The screws go INSIDE the gasket line!

Other items are then attached by multiple 10mm screws to the MDF.

Dave.
 
Or you could build a 4-legged stand to hold it all above your head .... (screws/hooks into the ceiling, patched with a little hole-filler when you move is easier).
 
Before you go drilling into the roof in search of a wood structural member to hang something from, be sure it is a wood frame construction. Pre-stressed concrete floors and ceilings are quite common in apartment construction.
 
Deep seeking stud finder might find them through the wood...but they're about $20 US... IF you have ceiling joists... may be concrete as pegger said. I wouldn't want my tenants drilling the nice wood panelling. I guess you could use wood filler to patch it up but its usually pretty noticeable since its not painted over.
 
Here is one idea:

Forget about the joists. You are not dealing with that much weight. Find location of knots in ceiling wood near where you would like to mount the cloud. They will be much easier to hide with filler/stain when you move. Drill through the knots and use hollow wall toggle bolts (because the knots are a weak point in the wood. Replace the bolt that came with the toggles with threaded eye hooks and connect to panels with chain. Landlord will never know. :)
 
I have had to fix a few holes in my 26 years of remodeling bathrooms and kitchens. You have to think creatively sometimes. :)

Base the size of the toggle on the size of the knot hole. You will want to adjust for the size of the hole itself, as the hole size drilled will be different. The idea would be to make the smallest hole possible, and have the toggle extend beyond the circumference of the actual knot. The size of the hook eye bolt will also vary with the size of the toggle.

When patching later, just use a stain-able filler and match by dabbing it with appropriate color stain. Make sure to test on some dried filler before applying to the actual patch. Fillers take stain much differently than wood does.


Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need the mounting holes in the exact place you want them. If one is too close to the left side, then mount the right side farther out than you would like. The chain, it's length, and gravity will be your friend here. You could then do some fine tuning with chain between diagonal mounting points to get the panels parallel to each other. That is some really knotty pine, so I bet you will just luck out. Hell, you might even hit a joist in there somewhere. :)
 
Just to be sure, as the pic could be deceiving but it looks like quality hardwood. That is actually solid wood bead-board correct? 1/2" or so thick. It isn't flimsy like a piece of paneling? Test by pushing against the ceiling with as much pressure as you would use to lift something like a Marshall cabinet, a small human or a 50 lb bag of something. You should get 1/16" or less deflection if the hardwood variety and joists spaced at 16". Maybe a bit more if this is top floor on old house with 24" roof trusses. If solid like this, you should be totally fine as the boards will be nailed at an angle at each joist under the seam (hidden). It will easily accommodate the weight of your cloud with the toggle bolts when size is designated correctly for the size of the knot you place the anchor in.
 
miroslav said:
As a handyman buddy of mine use to say...."spackle is your friend" . :D
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But a renters enemy. lol!

If done correctly, it is not even something one should feel guilty about. It happens even in initial construction.

In fact, the filler material bond will be stronger than the natural knot itself. One would be doing a service to his landlord.

Just make sure it's pretty. :)
 
Today I learned that in a Home Recording Forum : Marshall cabinets are an accepted measure of weight.

How much does that sand weigh Jimmy? About 4 1/2 Marshall cabinets. Ok lets get it loaded up! Ha ha... :laughings:
 
JLondon said:
Today I learned that in a Home Recording Forum : Marshall cabinets are an accepted measure of weight.

How much does that sand weigh Jimmy? About 4 1/2 Marshall cabinets. Ok lets get it loaded up! Ha ha... :laughings:
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No, just an example for those who do not have experience with equivalent weights. That was the fun reasoning of it. lol!

Just giving a vague examples with whatever he might have around. It really doesn't matter. It will be quite obvious whether the bead board is adequate to mount ceiling cloud panels.

Oh, and by the way, pththpthpthh!

:D

Also, a typical Marshall cabinet weighs in about 84 lbs, so if you have 4 1/2 cabinets for sale at the price of 50lbs worth (That is around 378 lbs), I will take them all off you at the $19 per pound price. At your posted differential in weight, I am just guessing the price is... lol. Blah blah.... I don't even care if they are loaded....

:D
 
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Here's an idea... Put your screws/nails in the side walls (assuming the landlord doesn't have a problem with you hanging pictures) then get some (i.e., a lot of) picture frame wire or similar gauge to string between 4 screws/nails and suspend your cloud from that.
 
That wood ceiling could be installed on a furring strip framework, or glued right to concrete. Talk to the landlord before doing anything. If the landlord nixes putting any kind of hooks in place, since you can use 2" thick panels for a cloud, consider putting 2 or 3 2x4 panels together and do what I was only kidding about before: make legs - 2x2 would do it at each corner to hold the whole thing up.
 
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